Taliban’s chief for Nirkh among 5 rebels killed

KABUL/GHAZNI CITY (PAN): A Taliban-designated district chief was killed during a joint Afghan-NATO operation in central Maidan Wardak province, the governor’s office said on Sunday.

The shadow district chief for Nirkh town, Maulvi Hanan, was killed in Chaghra area on Saturday night, the governor’s office said in a statement.

In southern Ghazni province, four insurgents were killed and nearly a dozen others were injured during an Afghan army-led offensive in Khogyani district, the 203rd Thunder Military Corps spokesman in Ghazni, Nazifullah Sultani, said.

Also involving national police, the operation that began a week back would continue until the area was cleared of anti-state elements, he said.

But a Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the fighters had besieged the district and were yet to suffer casualties.